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Former El Paso city rep's husband missing in Gila National Forest

by Christine Steele / Silver City Sun-News

Posted:
12/01/2009 02:09:51 PM MST

SILVER CITY, N.M. -- A 67-year-old man from El Paso never returned from a hike in Emory Pass in the Black Range of the Gila National Forest on Saturday, and search and rescue volunteers searched for him throughout the night Sunday and into Monday as a blizzard raged on before the search was suspended Monday afternoon due to weather conditions.

The El Paso Times has confirmed that the hiker is Robert Sumrall, husband of former El Paso City Council representative Jan Sumrall. Sumrall represented the West Side on the City Council from 1995 to 2003.

More than 10 inches of snow fell in the search area since Sunday, said meteorologist Jason Grzywacz with the National Weather Service in Santa Teresa. Temperatures have been in the upper 20s to lower 30s, with wind gusts up to 20 mph, and similar conditions are predicted throughout most of the night.

The man apparently went for a day hike on Saturday afternoon and was expected to return Saturday night, said Brian Fuller, a volunteer with Grant County Search and Rescue who returned from participating in the search Monday morning. Grant County Search and Rescue got the call at about 1 p.m. Sunday, Fuller said, and began heading out to the area to start the search. By Sunday evening, enough snow had fallen that Highway 152 was shut down.

Incident Commander Dave Kuthe said during the night while it was snowing, volunteers from Grant County Search and Rescue, Organ Mountain Technical Rescue and Mesilla Valley Search and Rescue covered 20 miles of trail searching for the man.

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"It was a real challenge and will continue to be so," he said.

Additional resources were on their way to help participate in the search Monday afternoon, Kuthe said, including 13 National Guardsman from Albuquerque, search and rescue teams from Alamogordo and Ruidoso, and two Borstar teams with dogs from the U.S. Border Patrol, before the search was postponed at 2 p.m. said Lt. Eric Garcia, with the New Mexico State Police.

The man, who is described as in good shape, was hiking with his Black Labrador, Zulu, Kuthe said, and has hiked in that area before. The man's son-in-law, who also lives in El Paso, reported him missing and had been in touch with search and rescue volunteers.

Kuthe said the man's vehicle was found but was locked and before the search was halted temporarily rescuers were trying to get a scent item to give the dogs on the search but didn't know how well that would work in the weather conditions.

"The fact that he has a dog with him might help," he said.

There is a cabin in the area at Hillsboro Peak, about five miles north of Emory Pass, said Larry Cosper, a District ranger in T or C for the Black Range Ranger District. Two main trails head off from Emory Pass, Cosper said, one north toward Hillsboro Peak and one south about three and half miles toward Sawyer Pass. The trail heading north has several trails that loop off of it, while the trail toward Sawyer Peak has fewer side trails. Both trails are fairly well-traveled, Cosper said but the topography on either side of each trail falls off steeply on both sides.

"Most people don't prepare well for their hike," Cosper said. "They don't realize that they are starting out at 8,000 feet elevation, and the weather can be unpredictable up that high.
Garcia said there were no new signs of the man in the area before the search was postponed and that as soon as the weather clears, rescuers will reinitiate the search.